Sacred Realm
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The Sacred Realm (also referred to as the Golden Land) is a recurring story element in the The Legend of Zelda series. While the details of its origin vary, in each of the games it is mentioned in, the Sacred Realm is described as a mythical plane, or parallel world, created by three Golden Goddesses to be the holding place of the Triforce, an artifact of great power.
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[edit] Origin
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The origin of the Sacred Realm is explained in little detail in the English language manual for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. This has later come to be regarded as non-canonical, however.
In the Hyrule of the present, there exist many Hylian buildings, frequently mentioned in the mythos of Hyrule. These ruined buildings are closely related to the history of the Triforce. Some were even said to hold the Triforce itself. The legends said that the Triforce was a symbol of the gods, desirable in and of itself. However, a verse from the Book of Mudora made the object even more desirable:
- "In a realm beyond sight
the sky shines gold, not blue.
There, the Triforce's might
makes mortal dreams come true." - — Book of Mudora verse
Many aggressively searched for the wish-granting Triforce, but no one, not even the Hylian sages, could ascertain the location of the Sacred Realm, as that knowledge had been lost in time. Some said the Triforce lay under the desert, others still claimed that it was in the cemetery in the shadow of Death Mountain, but no one ever found it. That yearning for the Triforce soon turned to lust for power, which in turn led to the spilling of blood. Soon the only motive left among those searching for the Triforce was pure greed.
Once Ganondorf got a hold of the Triforce, his evil heart and its power combined made the world change utterly. Ganondorf's wish was to conquer the world. The Golden Land withered and died and became a place of darkness and evil... it became the Dark World, a reflection of Hyrule that was meant to serve Ganondorf's wish of conquest. But Ganondorf was not satisfied, and plotted to take over Hyrule to make his wish come completely true.
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Ganondorf began to use the Triforce's powers to lure others into the Dark World. Once there, they were transformed into reflections of their own hearts. Ganondorf himself became a boar or pig-like creature. Upon this transformation, Ganondorf went by the name Ganon, the King of Evil. Ganon used the men lured into the Dark World by the Triforce to build an army, with which he attacked Hyrule. The Seven Sages then erected a barrier to seal the Dark World away, preventing any from entering.
Within time, Ganon sent a portion of his spirit across the barrier to become the wizard Agahnim. Using the wizard as his pawn, he killed the King of Hyrule and began to capture the descendants of the wise men. By using a dark ritual to send them over the barrier into the Dark World, the barrier would break free once again. Although Agahnim is killed, he ultimately succeeds in breaking the seal. Later, upon Ganon's death, the Dark World vanishes entirely and is restored to its former glory.
[edit] The Sacred Realm in the story of Ocarina of Time
[edit] The Realm Sealed
The realm remained sealed off from the physical world by a seal that can only be opened with a unique collection of items: The three Spiritual Stones (belonging to different races in the game and also representing one of the goddesses: The Kokiri Emerald represents Farore, the Goron's Ruby represents Din, and the Zora's Saphire represents Nayru), the Ocarina of Time (which opens the seal of the Temple of Time, gateway to the Sacred Realm), and the Master Sword (which was created to defeat evil and can only be wielded by the Hero of Time).
[edit] The Seal Broken
Once Link meets with Princess Zelda, she tells him of her distrust of Ganondorf who has pledged his allegiance to her father. She also tells him of her dream: In this dream she sees a darkness spreading over all Hyrule. Since her father refuses to lay aside his trust of Ganondorf, she turns to Link and asks him to obtain the Spiritual Stones to prevent Ganondorf from acquiring them. Once Link has gained possession of the three artifacts, Link goes back to Hyrule Castle, only to see Zelda and Impa (Zelda's Sheikah guardian) fleeing from Ganondorf. Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time to Link. Once Link picks it up, he goes into a dream-like state in which Zelda teaches him the Song of Time, the final key to opening the Door of Time. Links pulls the Master Sword (Sword of Evil's Bane) to gain the power to kill Ganondorf. Ganondorf gains access to the Sacred Realm and retrieves the Triforce. Since his heart is unbalanced, he was only given the Triforce of Power. The Sacred Realm becomes warped and twisted under Ganondorf's control, as the Realm reflects the heart of the last person to enter it. Only the Temple of Light at the center of the Sacred Realm remains uncorrupted.
[edit] The Realm Restored
At the end of Ocarina of Time, Link defeats Ganondorf, who is then sealed in the Sacred Realm (which can also be known as the Dark World) by the Sages, mythical protectors of Hyrule. It would later be known as the Evil Realm.
When Link defeated Ganon at the end of A Link to the Past millenia after Ocarina of Time, the Evil Realm/Dark World vanished entirely, and the Sacred Realm was finally restored to its former beauty and splendor as the Triforce now obeyed its new master, Link.
[edit] Story in Twilight Princess
It is revealed in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that in ancient times, a group of dark interlopers attempted to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm and secure the Triforce. In response, the goddesses sent down the light spirits Lanayru, Faron, Eldin, and Ordona to seal away their magic, which resulted in the Fused Shadows. The interlopers were banished to the Twilight Realm, another dimension created by the goddesses. There, the interlopers started the Twili tribe.
[edit] Dark World
While Ganon was trapped in the Sacred Realm during the Imprisoning War, he still wanted to take over Hyrule. Instead, he had to settle for the Sacred Realm. The Sacred Realm is, in fact, a mirror-world of Hyrule. It was here that Ganon made plans of taking over Hyrule with his great army of monsters, but was foiled by Link when he entered the Dark World and ruined all of Ganon's plans and once again saved Hyrule. When a normal person from Hyrule enters the Sacred Realm, he changes into a monster if his thoughts are greedy or impure. Link, however, turned into a pink bunny.
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.
